


A System of Debts and Grudges

by Our_Brightest_Stars



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: AU, Bad Jokes, Dissociation, Drabble Collection, Existential Crises, F/F, F/M, Fatalism, Gen, Mania, Moral Grey Areas, Self-Insert, Sexuality, Stalking, Suspension Of Disbelief, mental breakdowns, philosophical contemplations, possible triggers, rampant law breaking and destruction, unhealthy fixations and attachments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-06-10 01:59:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 12,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6933385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Our_Brightest_Stars/pseuds/Our_Brightest_Stars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her life is not her own. </p><p>When she woke up after drowning, there was nothing left that truly belonged to her anymore. Not her life. Not her body. And not even her mind.</p><p>Her existence all boiled down to fulfilling the debt that was 'owed' to her and trying to find her own way through the fragile and nebulous thing that was 'reality', that she could figure out the thin line between who she used to be and who she was supposed to be. </p><p>Minoru wants to believe that such an answer to her question is out there somewhere, that there may actually be some good in the world if people like Kyoko and Hicchan exist, but it's a struggle and not one that's fun or easy to get through.</p><p>[Drabble series. SI wakes up from a ten year coma after dying and tries to make sense of everything. Eventual Hibari/SI!OC pairing with some one-sided SI!OC/Kyoko pairing and various others. Vey immersive and just as confusing/distressing for the reader as it is the character.]</p><p>[Slow burn; Slight AU]</p><p>*Updated 3 to 5 times daily with a week break between arcs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude: Curtains

She was being suffocated; freezing water strangling the life out of her. Choking, coughing, crying as she didn't belong in the swirling waters around her; the undertow pulled her deeper into the cold darkness. _I don't want to die._

The pressure is killing her, both figuratively and literally speaking. The need to breathe is so, _so_ real to her; and it's terrifying because she knows the moment she does so, it's certain death. The darkness is encroaching upon her vision, sparkling black spots followed by a narrowing field of vision. She manages one final, desperate gasp before it's lights out.

_And the curtain falls for the Ending of the Prelude; the play is ready to begin._


	2. Interlude: Tale

_Once upon a time, there was a girl._

_And she made a mistake, one that couldn't be undone no matter how much she begged and wished and prayed._

_The consequences had been so unbearable that she ran away; so far away, that there had been no going back. She had told no one of her destination or that she was even leaving at all. By the time anyone had noticed her absence, it was too late._

_She had already cast her lot and Fate had placed its bet._

_She was already gone with a blow to_ (a wave going over) _her head._

 _She was in a coma_ (she was dead) _._


	3. Act I, Scene I: Waking

She wakes up again, screaming and choking; instinctively tearing the tube out of her mouth and ignoring the pain that follows. She spends the next few minutes greedily gulping in air and slowing her racing heart, survival more important than her immediate surroundings.

It takes some time before her focus expands to let in external stimuli and the irritating _beep-beep-beep_ of the heart monitor registers in her mind.

A cursory glance around with terrified and paranoid eyes revealed a plain room that was many times larger than the living room of her apartment with wood paneling, tatami mats, and those weird sliding doors. In various vases sporadically dotted around the room were some pink rain lilies, hyacinths in blues and purples, kalanchoe red bells, and lavender.

 _So,_ so _much lavender; sprigs of the plant everywhere around the room in jars with water in it instead of potted like the other flowers. It was like it was_ crying _out to her, zeroing in her attention on them, but she didn't understand what was being said._

She was currently laying on the floor in a futon. The only thing that kept her from almost-hysterically believing that somehow the anime, 'Bleach', was a real thing and that she was in the Soul Society, was the relatively modern medical equipment she was connected to.

Relatively modern medical equipment that was doing nothing to help with her inner turmoil and growing sense of dread right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rain Lillies: "I must atone for my sins"; "I will never forget you"
> 
> Hyacinths: generally means death and revival, but can also mean rashness  
> [blue]: sincerity, undying devotion, constancy  
> [purple]: sorrow, asking for forgiveness or symbolizes deep regret
> 
> Kalanchoe Red Bells [angel lamp]: "I want to protect you"
> 
> Lavender: "we are waiting for you", "please answer me"; devotion, faithful; silence, delicate, clean


	4. Act I, Scene II: Examination

She's not in her own body.

This takes a moment to sink in.

To, really, honestly, completely sink in; and when it does, she's sure that she's finally lost it or is in some strange coma-dream.

Because before she's noticed this important fact, she had been fretting over the idea that someone had found her while she had been drowning and fished her sorry self from the water. The room didn't look like any suicide-watch room she had ever seen, let alone any hospital room that was in the immediate area in her part of the country (Kane would be in fits if it was indeed a hospital room, the amount of health-violations for a public health care center was obscene, even if it was a perfectly clean living space).

And then there was the worry that, since she was still alive, she would have to face everyone she almost left behind and their reactions, their _disappointment_.

( _And that's what terrifies her more than anything; more than even dying, more than Kane's unconscious body in that hospital room, even more than that night when they ran so far away from certain harm that had been nipping at their heels… Because that disappointment and loathing had been the very thing she ran from in the first place to the cold grasping depths of that lake_.)

But then she noticed her skin tone and saw the sweeping purple strands and everything changed.


	5. Interlude II: Account

_There was a report of a missing six-year-old in Hokkaido. The middle child to an older couple who owned a large farm. The search for the daughter started after she was reported missing on a field trip with her school to the Emperor's Palace and around Tokyo proper. It had been a summer trip all the children had been looking forward to with much anticipation. The missing girl in question had been no different._

_But after years and years of searching, the case became cold and set to the side._

_A family had one member less. Some grieved. Some regretted. And some forgot._


	6. Act I, Scene III: Reflection

Coloring so exotic that it couldn't possibly be real.

Purple hair the color of lavender, curly and untamed as it covered her like a cloak, its length almost beyond belief. It replaced her colorless hair, which had been cropped so short that what little volume it had made it stick out like a cartoon character's.

Dark skin, that rested somewhere between caramel and mocha, gave a warmth where there once had been a sickly looking pale that hardly ever saw the light of day. Even now, she knew that it was only this light in tone from a lack of sunlight as well, that if she went outside and waited, it would turn into a dark olive.

These, she could live with. What caused her such despair was her eyes — _blue,_ blue _,_ **blue** _;_ _eyes so dark blue that if you stare at them too long you get sucked in_ — and they were _Kane's_ eyes, not hers, and she's screaming, _screaming_ , **screaming** ; desperation almost making her claw out her eyes until they're red _red_ _ **red**_ like the color of Kane's hair because she could stand that, because then she would be blind and wouldn't see, because that had been her favorite feature of Kane, because _because_ _ **because she**_ —

But she stops, like the coward she is, unable to follow through with it just like she was unable to follow through with her selfish bid at escape. And she hates herself. Hates those damnable blue eyes.

But she cannot bear to ruin them just as she cannot bear to live with them.

She stuck. She can't run from this. And she hates it.


	7. Act I, Scene IV: Escape

She can't remain here, doesn't want to stay for one second longer in this room. Her screaming and commotion earlier would have garnered alarm and worry if this was, indeed, a medical center of some sort. The lack of another person's presence was unsettling in a manner that she didn't want to examine too closely, not liking the picture it was beginning to paint.

And if she only focuses on the present, she can almost ignore how wrong her body feels and how the body that isn't hers shudders in revulsion. Despite feeling so disjointed and disconnected with the body she now inhabits, if only for the moment, she could focus on this one thing: to get outside.

If she can focus on this much and nothing else, she won't lose herself to the hysteria that waits for her limited and waning composer to slip.


	8. Act I, Scene V: Weak

She had no strength, sapped and spent, from only sitting up and pushing back the covers. And she pales from seeing the state of her body and marvels over the fact that she was able to do even that much. Thin and frail looking limbs are revealed to her, much more obvious now that she sees them properly without the film of shock to cloud her vision.

She's so skinny, she finds it amazing that she hasn't somehow shattered or blown away from a stray breeze. It looks wrong, and if she gently presses her sides, she can clearly feel her ribs. To be reduced to this state, even if it wasn't her own body, makes her feel horrified. To be this thin, one had to not have moved or eaten properly in months. Without any fat reserves or muscle, it's a miracle that she was able to move as much as she just did, exhaustion notwithstanding.

She can't walk in this state, the woman realizes faintly. The only way she would be able to leave this room was to crawl...


	9. Act I, Scene VI: Tears

There's no way that she could go any further.

Lying on her back and staring up into a sky that she thought she would never see again, she weeps quietly to herself. Hidden in the thick cluster of hydrangeas, any noise she made was stifled and muffled and disguised. No one would be able to see or hear her, nor would they even consider her to be hiding there of all places. But that hadn't been her goal. She just hadn't been able to crawl any further than out of the room through the door that led directly outside and into the thick almost overgrown garden where she rolled under the cover the flower bushes provided, dragging herself out of view to rest for just a moment under the shade.

The sweet smell of honeysuckle tickles her nose along with the heady perfume of the purple hydrangea bush she took refuge under and if she just closes her eyes, she can almost pretend she's a little girl again living on her grandparents' farm and siting outside in the garden. The hydrangeas become wild lilac bushes and the honeysuckle becomes phlox. And if she exhales deeply enough, she can smell newly overturned dirt with its earthy scent mingling with that of a freshly mowed lawn...

She falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honeysuckle: love of the bond, devoted affection; generous
> 
> Hydrangea: fickle, arrogance, proud family; gratitude and thanksgiving to someone else; developing a deeper understanding between two people, or heartlessness and acting without thinking about the feelings of another. With such mixed meanings behind one flower, it is important to pair Hydrangeas with other flowers to make sure you get the right meaning across. In Japan, the flower has a historical tradition behind it linked to apologies and gratitude.  
> [blue]: asking for forgiveness, and expressing regret  
> [purple]: indicates a desire for a deeper understanding of someone else; symbolizes abundance and wealth
> 
> Lilac: friendship; memories  
> [wild]: humility
> 
> Phlox: derived from the Greek for 'flame'; good partnership, harmony, our souls are united; sweet dreams; the color of fire


	10. Interlude III: Rumor

_The new kitchen maid first hears about the girl eight months after she began working. Mostly, she likes her job —_ much better than what she left behind, that was for sure _— and her coworkers are nice. The family is strict, she thinks, but not cruel, and she can bear it. That is why it surprises her so much when she finally catches onto what the others whisper about, sometimes._

_There's a low unsure buzz in her bones. She thinks about calling the police for about two micro-seconds before throwing away the idea without blinking. There's nobody else who might mind, certainly. The Hibari family is old and powerful, so very powerful a gnat like her can't even imagine… But she still can't help but worry about the girl-child who, by all means, is very well taken care of._

_She's just asleep. In a strange mansion. And nobody knows where she came from._

(she dares to imagine dark terrible things an adult might do to a child who can't fight back and has to swallow back her tears)

 _Only her fears are softened, the first time she sees twelve-year-old Kyōya Hibari beat a retainer for entering the girl's room without permission —_ he's a startlingly lovely child, hair dark as ink and long glossy eyes… _And so awfully_ strange _and_ dangerous _, she holds her breath in the rare occasions they're in the same room._ He wouldn't stand for it _, she thinks, relieved._ He just wouldn't stand for it. _And imagining Kyōya Hibari abandoning himself to that sort of strange perversity when he's so dedicated to discipline... she can't even ponder it._

 _She makes bread and kneads it, flour on her fingers and dusting her forehead. Thinks_ : I was mistaken _. Puts it in the oven and opens the window and the smell floods the whole house like a gentle wave. Thinks:_ thank God, I was mistaken _._

_And in the other corner of the house, the girl inhales deep, once, and Hibari stills, and the summer goes on._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to beribboned for writing this. I love you, Boo.


	11. Act I, Scene VII: Favor

If there was one thing that the Hibari family believed in, it would be a system of debts and grudges. What was owed would be given back in full; what was withheld would be taken with extreme prejudice. Things such as debts were always paid at the soonest possible instance, while favors that were owed to them would be hoarded zealously. Grudges were an oath made to themselves — _and others_ — that were very much so a last resort; making a debt that could never be satisfied with money, love, or even death itself… A black hole of Intent that would forever remain incomplete until a grudge or a debt of greater strength negated it.

In terms of the first, the Hibari family was very expedient. Debts owed couldn't possibly be shed fast enough, not wanting to be bound or constrained to another's fickle mercies. This made the old yakuza family ideal business partners, as one would never be in doubt of their integrity.

In juxtaposition of this, they were very tightfisted with their favors, unlikely to relieve another of the debt they owed for quite a long time. Some never calling them in as they died years and years later before it could be collected. Simply because they waited for the opportune moment where they could get the most benefit possible from it. Miserly though it be, no one dared to deny them what they decided they were due.

_(because they were a family who had a strong sense of 'justice'; discipline and pride being their most memorable traits; it was beneath them to deceive and cheat; they would take only what they had earned by their own merits, not by the foolishness of others; if you owed them such and such a thing, you truly did owe them that or something of equal value…)_

And grudges… Not even the Hibaris particularly enjoyed the practice, seeing them as an upset to the balance. To them, though, it was a matter of pride: pride on them as a family and on them as a person. It was a show of how great their restraint was, that there had only been a total of seven grudges in the entire family history, only coming into existence in the case of dishonor and utter betrayal.

It was only with all of this in mind, could an outsider understand the gravity of the situation when one Kyōya Hibari got a call on a flip phone that had not rung once since its purchase and his reaction after its conclusion.


	12. Act I, Scene VIII: Whispers

She hadn't slept longer before voices awoke her, panicked ones hissing quietly to each other in distressed and accusatory overtones. She couldn't understand what was being said and at first attributed it to the fact that the voices' owners were so quiet in the first place. It was only when the harsh whispering turned into stifled yells before returning back to their original volume that she discovered this was not the case.

The people were speaking in an entirely different language.

_"_ _She... missing… didn't know…"_

_"_ _He's angry…"_

_"_ _How… happen? Did… someone… her?"_

_"_ _But who? She… secret… ten years!"_

_"_ _Time… yakuza… anything…"_

A headache started to make its presence known more prominently, distracting her from the impossibility that was occurring. The woman-child slunk away deeper into the garden she had taken refuge in, careful not to move to obviously and announce her existence in the foliage, hidden from view quite thoroughly by the hydrangea bushes. The bushes mainly stuck to blues and dark purples, but there were a few that blended into something in between, an almost hypnotizing indigo. The bushes absolutely towered over her and she wouldn't be surprised if she would end up hopeless lost in the garden because of this.

Eventually, she ran into a wall and, after some deliberation, followed it further away from where the voices and the room had been. At some point, a door appeared along the wall she was following. It was small, likely only a service door that wasn't meant for everyday use.

Half-expecting it to be firmly locked, she pushed down on the latch. The door opened. She half-stumbled, half-fell onto the other side; the door closing automatically behind her and clicking to signify that it had locked. There was no going back.

She was hidden by more bushes, these ones the more regular non-decorative sort. Exhaustion weighed heavily upon her, but now more than ever, it was integral that she kept going. She would keep going. It was the only thing she could do.


	13. Act I, Scene IX: Sun

She opened her eyes again, unsure as to when or how she fell unconscious this time. The face that met her was like a blow to the stomach.

White-blonde hair shown like spider-silk in the dying sunlight, as silver eyes that glimmered more vividly than fish scales peered at her anxiously, flitting worriedly off into the distance before returning back to look at her in concern. Upon noticing that she was awake, those eyes widened even more, the irises starkly bright against dark olive skin, tanned from being outside. The other girl said something, but the displaced woman was unable to comprehend a thing.

This new girl was like the sun, shining and radiant and looking far too much like some supernatural being. And her voice… her voice was exactly the same as _Kane's_. Light and airy and far, far too kind for her own good.

She wanted to scream, or maybe cry, but instead she choked on the sound as she had choked on every other word that she tried to speak soon after that. This made her look both pained and scared, causing her impromptu savior even more alarm.

Perhaps, it was a small mercy that Kyoko's brother, Ryohei Sasagawa, came running over when he did to swoop the weak girl in his arms and race to the hospital, his little sister hot on his heels. The interruption prevented things from escalating even further and a breakdown from occurring.


	14. Act I, Scene X: Hospital

Everything was much too noisy after Ryohei, as he called himself, brought her into the building. She would have been embarrassed had she not been so bone-deep weary. If she could move again under her own power, it would have been a miracle.

Questions hounded her, spat out rapid-fire and insistent, one over the other and inspiring the mother of all headaches.

When she didn't answer or make a sound beyond a whimper of fear and discomfort, they looked for some of the answers themselves, assisting her into patient scrubs and doing a thorough examination. Throughout all of this, the siblings _— for what else could they be?_ — remained nearby and a reassuring, if loud in the case of the boy, presence. They were even kinder to stay for a while after everything was said and done, and she was placed into her own hospital room.

She was content to merely listen to the two of them talk and get acclimated to this new language that she was somehow able to understand — _at least in part_.


	15. Act I, Scene XI: Pieces

It was better than it had been before. It was still difficult to understand people — _especially if there was more than one person speaking at a time or they used words too big for a six-year-old to comprehend_ — but it wasn't impossible, though. It took a bit of focus, to translate as much as she in her mind considering how she wasn't hardwired for Japanese, after all. The working theory was that the only reason she understood anything was because of the original occupant's brain. She had grown up speaking, writing, reading Japanese. That knowledge had stayed behind while her consciousness had fled.

And wasn't that a pickle?

It preoccupied her the whole way to the hospital and for a large portion of her stay, the disconcerting nature of her existence. _"Who am I?"_ The thought would plague her; entirely headache inducing as she attempted to separate the pieces belonging to herself and the pieces that remained of the little girl who had originally possessed that body, who went into what must have been a coma for ten years if those people by the garden were to be believed.

With all this time to think, memories and desires and instincts began to infect the woman-turned-girl's mind. It was like trying to build a wall of sand, as she fortified one section the other crumbled, letting out _that girl's_ memories and _that girl's_ thoughts and it disgusted her.

She didn't want this.

But yet, truly, hadn't she gotten exactly what she wanted?

She wasn't sure anymore. Who she was, who she was supposed to be…

It was just — just was so _cold_ , like she was back in those freezing waters. It was supposed to be hot; heat, life, warmth, where was it? All she felt was this block of ice sitting on her chest, numbing her body until she felt nothing. Living, was this the price for living after she had tried to die…?

Firmly, desperately, she turned her attention to the girl — Kyoko, _she recalled from the introduction some time earlier_ — sitting beside her in the chair next to the bed. She gently squeezed the delicate hand in hers again. Relishing the warmth as she simply held it, ignoring the concerned and troubled look that hid behind the friendly smile that was given. Merely content with just touching the smooth skin of Kyoko's palm and feeling the slightest brush of nails against her wrist as Kyoko's fingers curled. She closed my eyes and pretended for a moment that it was Kane's.

( _hours later, when visiting hours were over and the siblings had to go, it was a struggle to keep from crying at the loss of something hauntingly familiar and safe_ )

**[She was alone. She was alone. She was alone.]**

( _because Kyoko represented all things good in life; she_ _loved spending time with Kyoko and wouldn't miss a chance to see her for just a little longer; Kyoko was her_ **Sun** _; Kyoko made her smile and forget the darkness that lurked not too far away, waiting for a chance to consume; Kyoko was_ **Safe** )


	16. Act I, Scene XII: Searching

Reborn had been surprised that his favor had been called in on the very same day it was given. He was even more surprised by the nature that his debt was paid. Instead of the fight he half-expected to be roped into doing with the Future-Decimo's Cloud Guardian, it was to locate a missing girl instead.

A missing girl whose existence had been entirely unknown up until this very moment.

A much greater feat than it seemed, considering the extensive background checks and digging that the _World's Greatest Hitman_ had done prior to manipulating Tsuna's guardians into a harmony with the boy. Still, this was not an opportunity that he would allow to go wasted, instead commissioning Tsuna and his other Guardian's reluctant assistance with the machination of fostering a, somewhat forced, bond between them and the aloof Cloud.

What was even more telling of important this was to Kyōya Hibari, was how the only 'condition' that he had to this was that not a word was to be spread by what they happened to discover during this search… Or their life would be forfeit by his very hands.

The fact that the prefect didn't say 'bite to death' instead was very telling of his sincerity.

Promises were made and would be kept, but Kyōya Hibari was a fool if he thought that Reborn wouldn't take the opportunity that was presented so brazenly in front of him. Blackmail was just par for the course in the mafia. One way or another, this girl would become a member of Tsunayoshi Sawada's famiglia.

The Cloud, then, would have no choice but to stay as well.

_(mayhaps the girl would also be a prize in her own right as well)_


	17. Act I, Scene XIII: Chatter

"Oh, Hana, I can't stop worrying about her! She seemed so lost and scared, really thin too, as if she hadn't eaten in a long time," Kyoko fretted earnestly over her bento, peering down at it almost guiltily.

Hana Kurosawa sighed, before patting her sniffling friend's head in a reassuring manner. "You did the right thing, Kyoko, and it's not like you're expected to do any more than you already did. You kept her company for _hours_ , that's more than most would have bothered with. Also, don't look so shamefaced about having food. Eat it all and waste nothing, that's the best way to do right by her… whoever she is. Sounds like a foreigner, if she couldn't understand anything you said and with those features, well, not a citizen of Namimori in any case."

The blonde let out a small noise of frustration and stuffed a pickled daikon radish in her mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly, before thoughtfully nibbling on the chopsticks. "Do you think… maybe I should drop by later?" At the look on the noirette's face, Kyoko hurried to add, "Just to see if anything has been found out yet. It would make me feel so much better if they found her family or at least a friend!"

"Kyoko-chan," Hana groaned long-sufferingly. "This is what I meant by you being too nice for your own good."

"Come on, please? We can go after class!"

Only half-joking, Hana turned around to call out, "Oi, Sawada! Help me out here and tell Kyoko to not go visit strange girls in the hospital."

"E-Eh?" He squeaked. "K-Kyoko-chan?"

"She's not really a stranger…" Came the lackluster protest. "I just… feel sort of responsible. I was the one who found her in the first place."

Takeshi and Gokudera exchanged looks before turning to Tsuna expectantly. Feeling their gaze, plus the suddenly interested and suspicious gaze of Hana, the teen groaned. Resigning himself to the very strong possibility of being bitten to death. Tentatively, he asked, "Was her hair purple?"


	18. Act I, Scene XIV: Voice

She tensed. Head jolting away from where a nurse was attempting to coax her into eating some broth with little success, turning this way and that, listening intently. The nurse squawked indignantly and scolded her in rushed simple-to-understand Japanese.

Before she could convince herself that she merely imagined it, she heard it again, that voice, much closer this time, _"… recently…patient from yesterday. No name listed._ **Where is she** _?"_

Her first instinct was to deny and say that she didn't recognize the owner of said voice, but something within claimed quite the opposite. A sense of familiarity and safety so strong that it drove her to attempt to struggle out of the bed sheets despite the aide's loud protests. There was a name, on the very tip of her tongue, tingling and incessant, but the more she mentally grasped for it, the more it eluded her.

Outside the room, down the hall, there was the sound of several nurses plaintively pleading and angry stomping. Between one moment and the next, the door clattered open and a pissed off teenager entered and the nurse who had been physically struggling with her fell silent.

The three of them measured up each other and then he spoke frostily, words sharp and almost deadly with hidden promises, _"You are… Unhand her and find a…"_

_"_ _Y-Yes, Hibari-san!"_

And then it was just her and this cold boy who seemed much more than he appeared.


	19. Interlude IV: Fib

**It all began with lies; and it all ended with a lie.**

_Two objective Truths that were kept to the end of the little girl from Hokkaido; whoever she had been before the coma was lost in the past._

_What could be considered "truth" in so much as lies were able to be, was this:_

_There were a group of girls that harassed and whispered quiet poison in her ears during the whole trip until the hour-long pit stop at Namimori (_ no one would notice or even care if you just disappeared forever, you know _)._

 _She had slipped away with a murmur about finding a washroom (_ I'll be back before you know it _)._

 _She had run into another small child just about her size and asked a favor with the excuse of playing a little joke (_ please, for me? It would make me so happy to get them back for once, instead of being the butt of the joke _)._

 _She loaned her hat and promised that she would return before it was time for departure (_ I'll be back before the bus leaves, just stay for the first head count and then come back by this store. I'll wait for you here, 'kay? _)._

 _The other small child swore that the hat would be taken the utmost care of (_ hey, w-wait, that's n-n-not yours, you can't take that! _)._

 _The teacher's aide had exasperatedly repeated that yes, he had counted thirty-six heads for class 1-B before moving on and counting the others in that year (_ look, I counted thirty-six the first time, we're behind schedule. I didn't bother counting again because I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to wander off! _)._

 _A couple of boys from Namimori Primary told their respective mothers that no, nothing interesting happened to them at school or on the walk home from it (_ ugh, my mom would be so mad if she heard about me getting into trouble with the school hall monitor again. That kid is a freak, who let an animal like him carry weapons? _)._

 _A girl took the hat from the small child before claiming that it had been gifted to her when asked by her classmates (_ we're friends, why wouldn't she give me her hat when I wanted it? _)._

 _The same group of girls from before claimed to know nothing about what happened to the little girl of Hokkaido or why she might have run off (_ why are you asking us? It's not like we talk to her or anything. She's just… she's quiet, no one really knows her. She doesn't have any friends. We don't know why she's missing, honestly! _)._

 _The Oyabun of the strongest yakuza in the providence told his son that nothing had been found about the little girl (_ it's like she's a ghost. Like she never existed in the first place… _)._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oyabun - Boss of all the gangs affiliated with a 'family'. Think of a mafia godfather, especially since the literal translation means 'foster-father'. Can also be called the 'Kumicho', which is the 'supreme boss' (or just 'boss').


	20. Act I, Scene XV: Expectations

At first, the boy — _Hibari_ — immediately checked her over, scowling at her skinned palms and knees with a rather impressive glare. He liberated the cupboards of their first aid kit and redid the disinfectant and bandages to his own satisfaction. She had plenty of an opportunity to take in narrowed grey-eyes so dark they were reminiscent of coal, straight black hair styled in an orderly manner that made her think his mom had done it, and a resting bitch face that would overshadow that of Gordon Ramsey's.

She couldn't keep her eyes off his hands, though. Slender, but with a strength that belied their nimble appearance. She spotted calluses and wondered what sport he did, if any. The hands stopped their work. He was done.

She glanced up only to meet his expectant gaze — _eyes so dark grey, they're black_ — and couldn't look away as she stared into them almost helplessly, like a mouse before a python. Then the moment was broken with a frown and his eyes once more scoped her body intently as if looking for something. It took her longer than she would ever admit to realize that he was searching for injuries and was likely worried over her.

And she couldn't bring herself to say a word, throat feeling thick and clogged as she watched him, as he likely waited for someone precious to him to speak, to reassure him with words of kindness and a smile… But she couldn't do that, didn't want to, knowing that such platitudes would ring false and hollow, doing more damage than good.

The boy still hovered almost anxiously in a repressed manner, and she decided to take a leap of faith that he wouldn't crush her like the bug he obviously deemed other humans to be, considering how he treated the nurse earlier. She held out a trembling hand and carefully, cautiously patted him on the head, running fingers through soft feather-like hair.

His eyes widened a fraction and mouth parted the slightest amount in surprise. His name, Hibari, itched at her, like a faraway memory, like one of those memories that had belonged to that little girl.

_"_ _My youngest son spends a lot of time with you, you know—"_

_"—_ _the Hibari heir is in here practically all day, it's almost pathetic—"_

_"—_ _I would like to think it does him some good, gives him purpose—"_

_"—_ _Hibari-sama, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there—"_

_"—_ _but promise me when you wake up, you will do right by—"_

"Hi-Hicchan," she breathed quietly, unconsciously, eyebrows knitting faintly under the strain of the sudden headache that cropped up from the influx of memories, hand limply slipping from his hair.

_(Kyōya Hibari had the sudden, violent urge to end his father posthaste)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter for Act I, which will be posted tomorrow. Afterwards, there will be a week long break until the next update for the start of Act II.


	21. Intermission: Act I, End

Minoru patted down the soft fabric of the kimono absently, fingers tracing the light and airy patterns of the butterflies on it. Surreptitiously, she gave a small sniff into her shoulder before drawing the loaned black jacket a little more snugly around her thin frame. It was soft and warm, the lingering scent comforting to her.

Shifting in her wheelchair, she wondered for the umpteenth time where Hicchan — _as she now called him, the name having been reaffirmed by an older man that looked like the father "call me Tōchō" Hibari_ — disappeared off to, trying hard not to remember what happened in the car and how she almost broke down again after he asked her name.

( _she pressed her hand to her head as a searing spike of pain jolted through it when she tried to recall, a possible name dying on her lips before the first syllable was even uttered. It hit her, then, that she didn't know the answer to his question._

_Was she herself? Or was she the little girl from Hokkaido?_

_The mind was hers, but the body was the little girl's; and just where, exactly, did the boundary between mind and body exist? Where did one start where the other ended? Could her consciousness even be considered a mind or was it a soul?_

_What happened to the little girl's soul?_

_Was it erased the moment another's took residence or had it been gone since when she had first fallen into a coma and the body had merely been an empty shell ever since, waiting for another soul to fill it?_

**_Had she killed_** _— **?**_ )

He named her. He gave her an identity that she could accept, not belonging to her real self but also not belonging to that girl. She became Minoru, and Minoru became her.

She knew she was just avoiding the real issue that lay at the root of it all, but it could wait.

Just for now.

Just for a little while longer until she got the full story.

The subtle tremors started in her hand again and she clasped the offending appendage firmly to make the shaking stop. The trembling was still noticeable, but only just.

She shuffled uneasily in her wheelchair that had been taken from the hospital and quietly hummed a short Scandinavian tune to herself _._

The sliding door opened. Minoru stopped humming. Hibari entered alone. The "truth" was revealed as he knew it.

[ _once upon a time, there was a boy._

_And he made a mistake, one that couldn't be undone no matter how much he begged and wished and prayed._

_The consequences had been so unbearable that he closed in on himself; so deep within, that it had seemed as if there had been no going back. He had told no one of his depression or that he had even been affected at all. By the time anyone had noticed his distance, it was too late —_ His choice had been made and the promise sealed between the two of them, resting heavy in his heart.

_He had reflected on his "crime"; and he had declared himself "guilty"._

_Because if only he had been a little stronger, a little faster, a little more controlled… then he wouldn't have swung the new-to-him tonfa as blindly as he did. He wouldn't have accidently struck her and she wouldn't have cracked her head on the side of the curb —_

**so much blood, so much blood, and is she dead, did he kill her, oh God, what had he done, he was a killer, a monster, a freak, an** **_animal_ ** _—_

_It was too late for him to undo what he had done; and it would be ten years before he would even be able to begin making reparations…_

_But never doubt that he would be able to atone for his sins._

_Never doubt that he became stronger, faster, controlled so that it would never happen again._

_Never doubt his Will; never doubt for one moment of his sincerity, of his regret._

_He did all of this for her, because of her. Everything that he did up until now, everything that he accomplished was for her. She reminded him of his weakness, and she reminded him of his promise._

_He would not fail her again, because a Hibari never leaves a debt unpaid; and he owed more than his life's worth._

_Once upon a time, there was a boy._

_He died, and in his place a Carnivore was born._

(because he was an animal, because they were all just animals, and it was his goal to be at the top of the food chain where all the power was, just as he promised her)

 _Once upon a time…_ ]

* * *

**Act I: End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will update daily again one week from now.


	22. Act II, Scene I: Erased

The sound of wind-chimes resonated through the room, carried by the gentle autumn breeze. Somewhere, in the garden, a _shishi-odoshi_ clacked, occasionally, keeping time. The hairbrush snagged on Minoru's long hair for a brief second, but she gave no indication of noticing it, mind instead reflecting back to last night and the troubling implications that were given.

The Hibaris seemed to be in a place of power, or at least from an old family that had great power and wealth. The estate being vast and orderly in a way that was extremely hard to come by back at her home, in her time.

_(she also suspected something distinctly underworld about it à la yakuza but had nothing to actually substantiate this theory, so she set it to the side)_

And somehow, she had become an integral part of such a family ten years ago and had been living here ever since, having been put in a coma due to an accident on Hicchan's part. It had been a mistake. He had not been trained in the martial arts for very long, making his control poor and therefore leaving him unable to stop when she happened to be in the way…

From how he had phrased it, however delicately, it was lucky that she didn't die or stay in that coma permanently.

The jury was, apparently, still out over the possibility of her being brain damaged.

There's was probably more to the story (she knew there was more, some like an intuition practically screamed it within her) but with her comprehension of the Japanese language being limited to that of a rather slow-in-the-head six-year-old, this left it rather unfeasible for there to be much more, nothing that could be properly and clearly explained to her.

She hated this. Not being able to completely understand or be understood. It affected her behavior, too. She was more reticent, almost half-afraid of what might come out of her mouth.

_(she was still startled by the light and dreamy voice that was emitted every time she tried to; eyes searching around the room for the sleepy child it surely came from, before remembering that there was no one but herself there)_

It made it all the more real that this body was not her own. Oh, Minoru had tried to forget that she was merely a parasite, living off of empty shell of what had once been a girl. Much like how a child would be hyperaware of the itchy and ill-fitted hand-knit sweater a loved one made for them that wasn't particularly flattering; one that they were forced to wear for school picture day. Sure, they could become distracted by countless things around them and would even attempt to pretend that the sweater was something else entirely or didn't exist… But the situation remained as it was: the sweater still existed, it was still uncomfortable, and it couldn't be taken off.

Despite doing the utmost best to erase her entirely, the ghost of the little girl from Hokkaido still remained.

When her purple hair was shown to be entirely smooth at the appraising carding of Hicchan's fingers through the feathery strands and the sun had fallen towards the horizon, Minoru used the no-longer-a little-girl's skin to eat with him, who gazed at her like she was something worth watching. Minoru put on the clothes provided and she slipped into the futon after clearing out the room of any remnants of the flowers for the girl who had once been alive ten years ago.

Minoru tried not to cry as she wondered if someone was erasing who she used to be back at home, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shishi-odoshi - [lit. scaredeer or scareboar] also known as a sōzu, it's a type of water fountain used in Japanese gardens. It consists of a short bamboo tube balanced like a seesaw with one side heavier than the other which resting against a rick. A trickle of water fills it up until the lighter end is now heavier than the bottom, making it tip over and dump the water. The heavier end then falls back against the rock with a sharp clack! and the cycle repeats. This noise is intended to startle any literal herbivores that might eat the garden.


	23. Interlude IV: Report

_He normally didn't take jobs like this, vague ones with little description or details to them that only left questions that wouldn't be answered until it was accepted by an agent. Normally such a job could end up as a death trap, a suicide mission if one wasn't careful._

_But this one was an exception in many ways._

_For one, it was a specific request for a Sun user who specialized as a medic. No mention of a hit request, and it wasn't listed as a protection detail; rather, it was left under miscellaneous. Time on this mission was indeterminate._

_For another, the client was the Tettsui-Ikka. He had done a job for them once before and had thought it the most professional and business-like out of any other one he had before, reminiscent of a restaurant with him being the waiter. The order was clear and easy to understand. The task not impossible. The pay was fair. To be honest, it was almost forgettable, if not for the clients themselves. The Hibaris were… intense, shall he say. They weren't people to be easily dismissed._

(he remembers the smile Mrs. Hibari gave him after he declared the mission successful and shivers; all teeth like a predator and hard edges that held no mercy, just unnatural _unnatural **unnatural**_ —)

_He got this job at Mafia Land, the single best place to get high profile missions. There hadn't been a single report of a dead-end mission in over nineteen years. There were reports of gone-bad missions, but it was normally a foul from the agent's end. Mafia Land prided itself in professionalism and their 'clean' missions, in so much as the jobs offered could be considered so._

_And finally, there was a contract that needed to be signed —_ beyond the required two that Mafia Land always stipulated _— where his life would not only be forfeit if he were to reveal or sabotage any part of the mission, but that of anyone he interacted with._

(actually, it said that he could expect a politic backlash from them (the Hibaris) so strong, his reputation would cease to exist; him and his associates suffer blacklisting from the Tettsui-Ikka and its allies and the allies of those allies; and whatever family or relations he had, including illegitimate ones, regardless if they were civilian or underworld, would become financially ruined and the social standings brought to nothing; it was just more succinct to say their lives would be forfeit as it essentially would)

_Most clients wouldn't bother with such a heavy threat, for fear of scaring off agents, if it was only a dead-end job. For them to make such a severe condition, they could only be taken seriously. Anything less would be an exercise in idiocy._

_In the end, it was probably the best decision of his life. His only task was to ensure that a comatose girl's body didn't wither away while she slept. He would appear for a daily check-up and give flame treatment as needed to stave off the worst of the atrophy. He would report on her vitals as detailed as he was able. He was on call at all times should anything change and was paid handsomely._

_For over ten years, nothing had changed._

_But then she had woke up somehow, and he got a call to standby. Two days later, he had another call to come immediately. She had relapsed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regular daily updates will resume, but it will only be 1 - 3 times a day, considering the segments are much longer now. My goal is to keep it around 1,000 to 2,000 words a day.


	24. Act II, Scene II: Avoidance

Minoru had been trying to avoid 'Hicchan' ever since the other morning when she woke up to find him in her room, reclining against the wall, and watching her with half-lidded eyes (the question if he had been there _all night long, watching her sleep_ plagued her). But it seemed that no matter where she went, where she hid, he would find her within moments.

The worst part was, he seemed half-amused by this, as if it were all a game that she was playing with him, where she would slip away to hide when she thought he wasn't looking and he would inevitably seek her out.

Admittedly, it was harder with the wheelchair and she grew tired easily with attempting to push herself, but even after abandoning it in favor of crawling, her hiding places were limited. She stopped after Hicchan no longer brought the wheelchair with him, gathering into her into his arms and carrying her back instead.

_(she cursed her new body for being so light and delicate; for being so weak while he was so strong; currently, she probably weighed less than forty kilograms if she had to guess, a little under half the weight of her old body which was strong and built; now she was pitiful and at the not-so-tender mercies of fickle teenage boy)_

It was stressful, being so vigilant and constantly trying to escape, while staying up practically all night. It was no surprise when it eventually caught up to her with a vengeance. It started with her no long attempting to sneak off, too exhausted to muster up the energy needed. Then she wasn't able to remain so tense and focused, mind drifting and body involuntarily relaxing against Kyōya who had sitting behind her, brushing her long hair out again.

He stopped at first in surprise at her rather abrupt change in behavior, but frowned when she made no move to straighten and let him finish his self-assigned task after a long moment in that position. His fingers cautiously brushed her arm before gripping it, giving her a small shake. "Minoru," he began. "I haven't finished yet. Sit up."

She kept her eyes closed, content to rest her head against his chest and sleep away the fatigue that afflicted her. Minoru thought that she should probably answer him, as his pretty voice _was_ a bit panicked. She might have mumbled the words 'tired' and 'sleepy' but she couldn't quite recall, her mind feeling lazy and hazy. She did managed to bring herself to nudge his shoulder with cheek and let out a small hum of acknowledge when he said her name for the fourth time.

He started to move, carefully setting her down on the floor before he stood and darted away. Minoru missed the warmth and briefly debated the merits of opening her eyes to see where he had gone before writing it off as a lost cause.

She was really tired.

There was some commotion, someone was shouting, but it all sounded so far away, muffled even, as if it was behind a closed door. Suddenly, Kyōya was back at her side and she couldn't quite remember when he had gotten there. There was something else that she needed to say, had to get the words out before she forgot them. Minoru paused for a second to gather the required foreign words, her thoughts. It was getting harder.

She asked, "Why won't you leave me alone?"

He had no response to that but his hand wrapped around her own fragile one in a desperate grip.

Minoru fell asleep.


	25. Act II, Scene III: Hush

She woke up again after an unidentifiable time later. She almost wished that she hadn't.

Minoru was back in the same room that she had resided in since first coming to the estate all those years before, the one she had slept in when she first returned from the hospital. She hated it.

The flowers were back. She hated them too.

However, what bothered Minoru the most wasn't the room or even the muted screaming presence of flowers anymore.

It was the silence.

The maddening, stifling, deafening silence. It suffocated her and scared her more than it probably should have. More than she had given it credit so many times before. The woman-turned-girl had taken for granted what little freedom she had in preventing this kind of thing from happening. Even if she was alone, noise and distraction wasn't that far away, the faint voices of others, whether they be from a show, song, or part of the narration in her mind as she read or wrote a story. She had always surrounded herself in sound during the Before back when she was herself, whether it be from other human beings or an artificial replacement. Minoru couldn't bear to be left alone in the silence.

If there was just one person with her, even if it was Hicchan who was never much for conversation actually creeped her out a little, then it would only be 'quiet' and Minoru would cope with that just fine. Being quiet was much, much different from being silent, and right now, it was the latter.

She wondered what would happen if she screamed, if it would just echo or cut off like a dead weight or if it would even make a difference at all. Goosebumps crawled on her arms, hair raising as a sense of unease overtook her.

Minoru felt as if she was fading into nothing, buried in the silence. Maybe she had been wrong about death, maybe this was what awaited, utter silence in all its terrible presence and weight that came with it.

Minoru had to break it, to remain silent any longer lay madness, just waiting to consume her. Opening her mouth, she recited an old German nursery rhyme that she had her great-grandma repeat countless times until Minoru, herself, had memorized it. " _Eins, zwei, drei, vier. Fünf, sechs, alte Hex'. Sieben, acht, gute Nacht. Neun, zehn, schlafen geh'n..._ "

The woman-turned-girl paused for a brief moment, forgetting the next line but not able to bare the silence that followed, even if it was brief. She skipped to the next part, " _Die Franzosen zogen nach Danzig. Danzig fing an zu brennen, die Franzosen fingen an zu rennen. Ohne Strumpf und ohne Schuh' rannten sie nach Frankreich zu._.."

Absently, she repeated the rhyme for minutes on end, trying, always trying, to remember the missing verse and prevent the silence from consuming her utterly.

But eventually, even that had to come to a stop, her voice hoarse and strained. The silence loomed over her, and dread infected her stomach and heart, anxiety making itself known from the trembles that radiated through her body. The silence was all encompassing and suffocating, no better than the swirling waters —

 _water-drowning-struggling-drowning-pain-hurts_ hurts **hurts**

Minoru pulled the covers over her shivering head, and for a while, she laid there, quiet and soft and ignoring the looming threat of insanity above her, and pretended that she was dead. This was a corpse. Minoru would never wake up.

She buried her emotions, buried her heart, and tried not to think. She tried not to think, not to breathe, nothing. Nothing was here, nothing at all, just a corpse, just shell, just a husk of a girl that no longer was.

Minoru tried to stop existing.


	26. Interlude V: Scolding

_Hibari's heart stopped for a split second before picking up double-time when he re-entered Minoru's room with the tray of food that his father had badgered him into getting. The white sheet from the futon Minoru had been resting in was pulled over her head. She was absolutely still and he couldn't hear the sound of her even breaths._

_Dropping the tray with a loud clatter, the teen rushed to the futon and whipped the thin blanket back to meet not the motionless and relaxed face of Minoru he was accustomed to always seeing, the face that would never be animated again in death, that would never shift or tense in emotion any longer; but rather that of an alarmed and startled girl who cringed away from the sudden intrusion and light._

_Kyōya leaned over her, panting heavily from his own fright and his hand clutching the blanket shook near imperceptibly, heart only just beginning to slow now that it had provided to be a false alarm. Unexpectedly, he found himself angry at her. Why had she done that? Was she trying to send him to an early grave? What had been the point of creating such a scene where she would be assumed to be recently deceased at the first casual glance? Just what had she been trying to accomplish with this?_

_However, he asked none of these things, instead dropping the sheet in disgust and storming out of the room. He sent for the Sun who was in charge of her welfare and left the estate to calm down. He feared if he stuck around much longer, he would have said something he might turn out to regret later, as he wasn't in the mood to listening to whatever reasoning she had behind giving him such a scare._

_Besides, just yesterday, he had been informed that she had collapsed from stress. That his presence frightened her. Thinking back on her behavior around him and her terrified expression only moments before… It made him wonder if she remembered what he had done all those years ago and feared for her wellbeing._

_It made him both ashamed and want to fight someone._


	27. Act II, Scene IV: Standing

It took her two weeks.

Two painful weeks to be able to stand on her own feet under her own power. Minoru was no health professional, but she had a sinking feeling that this was far from the realm of normality. She also suspected that it had something to do with those brilliant yellow flashes of light she glimpsed the doctor using and had been too intimidated to ask about properly. But then again, being able to stand like this had been only made possible with the leg braces she had been given and currently wore.

It was starting to draw upon the third week of her presence in this strange reality, and it bothered her how dependent she was upon the Hibari family's good graces. She, who had once been able to depend on only herself and on her on merit, was now helpless and unable to do so. She only had a rudimentary grasp on the local language and no currency under her own name. She hated to think this, but it was likely the person who she had been before didn't exist here, and even if she did, no one would recognize her. No one would believe her, either.

She hated it. All of this. Being helpless, powerless, something she had thought that she had finally escaped so long ago… But it seemed that things had a way of coming back to haunt her, albeit in a different form than she expected.

When Minoru looked in the mirror, actually looked at it with more than a passing side glance, something in her broke.

It was incredibly distressing, her hair darker and in what used to be an entirely unnatural color. Her features were softer, if such a thing was possible, but instead of rounded it was heart-shaped. And her eyes… Her eyes, _her eyes_ , **_her eyes_** —

They belonged to Kane, her foster sister, the most important person to her in this life, no, _any_ lifetime. They were the eyes that shined when talking about swordplay and stories about times long past. They were the eyes that harden and sharpened when strategizing and making plans for the group. They were the eyes that softened and _understood_ her when she was weak and didn't condemn her any for it. They were the feature she loved most about that girl. That girl she would be willing to lay down her very life for, because Kane was the one who reached out to _her_ when Minoru was at her lowest point. And stayed even though she got hurt, when there wasn't much that could have possibly benefited her. Because Kane stayed when almost no one else would. Even when she finally paid for it in the end… That night when everything that could have gone wrong, did.

The shaking in her hands had increased by this point into full blown tremors, spreading to the rest of her body which shivered with something that she refused to acknowledge as anxiety. Minoru was so weak now, so skittish, it was hard to believe she was ever that person from Before, that she could have ever done those things she remembered so vividly.

Because this wasn't the body that she had grown up in. She hadn't marred this body with scars, hadn't spent days in hospital countless times in it, or gotten into fights, or near-death experiences. She hadn't gone binge drinking in this form, both legally and illegally. She hadn't pole-danced with it, molding it into something to be proud of. This wasn't the body that had caused her years of self-loathing, and so, _so_ much bitter anger because of how much she looked like her mother. This skin hadn't been tanned on Michigan beaches, this knee hadn't been dented from falling down a flight of stairs, these eyes didn't need glasses because they were slowly but surely failing her, this face wasn't the one she had finally started to grow to love and respect —

Minoru's teeth began to chatter and she slowly slid down a wall to lay down on the ground, legs stiff from the braces being locked into place. Faintly, she recognized that she would be a quivering mess for hours to come.

_(and, suddenly, she wondered if any of those things she remembered had ever even happened at all)_


	28. Act II, Scene V: Sprint

She hadn't meant to run away.

It had started out as a thought, an _idea_ , and then she couldn't get it out of her head. The temptation called out to her, even more so now that she was somewhat proficient in walking, after nearly a month after waking up the first time.

_(it wasn't natural, couldn't possibly be natural; she had never been one to believe in the paranormal but how else could a person explain this; such rapid recovery thanks to yellow flashes of light that looked like fire that didn't burn; if she didn't know better, Minoru would have thought that somehow the Harry Potter books actually had some truth in them after all)_

The estate was nice — _beautiful, actually_ — but it only seemed to remind her of her position, one that hadn't been very well explained at all. From what she could understand, she had been a victim of circumstance and the very nature of her existence was a perplexing and incriminating one. Hadn't they practically kidnapped the original owner of this body after assaulting her…?

She shivered, taking another goose-step forward before frowning in irritation and bending over to take off the straps of the brace on her right and then her left leg. She swayed slightly as she removed them completely but was still mostly able to maintain her balance.

Minoru glanced only once more back at the wall where the service door remained hidden from view before turning back around. She stumbled. She walked. She trotted. And then she was running.

Sprinting.

_(run away, run away, I don't want to care, anymore)_

She didn't want to care.

She didn't want to care from the very beginning when she first looked into his coal-grey eyes _(eyes so dark grey, they're black like ink)_.

Run away.

The ribbon in her hair binding the braid together fell out as she raced along, pumping her arms and legs. Frantic to get away, frantic to keep going, frantic to disappear, frantic, _frantic,_ _ **frantic**_ —

Her feet slipped and she stumbled, skittering across the hard cement, palms scraped and bleeding, knees and limbs aching, she scrambled up and continued to run, _run,_ _ **run**_ away from her problems like she always did. Just like she did that night. Just like she did the next day when it all blew up in her face. Just like when she ran all the way into the cold, grasping depths of that lake… because in her heart of hearts, Minoru was a coward and she _always_ was and _always_ will be and —

And…

And it's the only thing she knows what to do, now. Because she's lost and she doesn't know who she's supposed to be anymore.

She just wants to go home.

Because she's just so, _so,_ _ **so tired**_.

She would believe anything at this point, would accept anything, as long as it gave her a purpose, a reason to be, a reason to exist, because she left her old one back at that hospital lying in a bed, comatose —

Minoru laughs. Of course, _of course,_ _ **of course**_! It all makes sense!

This is her punishment. Because she's responsible for costing someone their life, making them go into a coma, it's her turn, she must collect the dues of another, right? Yes, yes, it must be, for what else could this possibly be? Chance? She couldn't stand for such an answer to be the case, if there was no reason, then she… _then she_ … **_then she_** —

Minoru couldn't bear to finish that train of thought.

Hours of such considerations plaguing her mind, dragging her back down into a darkness that she tried to desperately to leave behind by fleeing the environment most of them were spawned in. Hands trembled as her body ached and whined for rest, throat burning for water and mind pleading, _pleading,_ _ **pleading**_ for respite.

Somehow, within herself, Minoru found the wherewithal to continue despite the pain and exhaustion, her Will exceeding that of her bodily limitations for the moment, her minor Cloud flames propagating her near-nonexistent muscles for just a short while longer.

The crash of such a temporary strength afterwards would be agonizing and set back her recovery by another week and a half, but for now it was just barely enough for her to get by.


	29. Act II, Scene VI: Chance

Kyoko wasn't one to believe in fate — _let that be made perfectly clear_ — and destiny had always seemed like a contrived thing to her, nebulous and an easy way out to justify patterns of humanity's own making, but it was hard to deny the coincidence of running, literally, into that girl from before when Kyoko went outside to get the mail.

It set her heart at ease to see her look a little healthier, having gained some weight from being fed properly and no longer looking like death warmed over… But the look in her eyes was troubling — _depressed, manic, fretful_ — and Kyoko felt something like heartache stir within her.

_(she called it sympathy and concern, because surely that's what it must have been, right; that was why she had been thinking about the girl for the past month, why plum-colored hair with azure eyes haunted her thoughts doggedly; Kyoko was worried because she hadn't encountered someone in such dire straits before… Right?)_

"K-Kyoko?" The other girl breathed, face lighting up in recognition between gasps for air, worn out from what looked like a long distance run.

"Ah, you remember me?" Came the distant reply as the blonde frowned. Really, the clothes the other girl was wearing weren't the best clothes to work out in, far too nice to mess up with such a vigorous activity. Still, she wasn't going to question the other's choices. "It's good to see you again…?"

"Minoru," she answered the unspoken question quickly, as if she couldn't get the word out fast enough. "Sorry, didn't mean to hit you."

"O-Oh, no, it's fine, I didn't see you either. It was an accident!"

There was a wince and Kyoko didn't much care for the haunted look in the other gi… _Minoru's_ eyes. They were blue enough as it was without the dampened mood behind them.

Automatically, unthinkingly, she offered, "Do you want to come inside?"

Minoru accepted, and now the strange girl that had been doggedly appearing in Kyoko's thoughts was now in the Sasagawa household. Just what were the chances?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Rena and Beribboned, you two are what keeps this story going.


	30. Act II, Scene VII: Hope

This had to be a dream, couldn't possibly be real, this figure in front of her. How many times had she wondered about the girl named Kyoko? Thought about the things she might be doing, imagined another encounter between the two of them, daydreamed fanciful conversations that they might share…

She wasn't Kane. She wasn't her foster sister. She wasn't even remotely familiar from Minoru's past life, in all honesty.

But just like how Minoru had been drawn to the girl with vibrant red hair and the bluest of eyes, something about Kyoko just seemed right, enticed her.

It was mostly Kyoko who talked as they sat at the kitchen table, Minoru content to just listen to the soft bubbly voice wash over her, easing away the tension in her shoulders that she hadn't even realized was there. Kyoko's brother was out training; his dream to be the welterweight champion of the world (even though he was currently classified as a featherweight, not even weighing enough to be listed as a lightweight) not very surprising, but the fact that it was a replacement for his earlier dream of being a Power Ranger was. Kyoko sometimes joined him when he went out for runs, but that was because according to the dramas she watched on television, being a police woman involved a lot of leg worked and she wanted to be in shape, not caught off guard.

Kyoko's favorite color, incidentally enough, was purple but more towards the indigo end of the spectrum instead of the vibrant shade that was Minoru's hair color. Her favorite soda flavor was peach, her favorite food was omurice, and her favorite dessert was cake but she couldn't decide which type of cake she loved the most. "This one store, La Namimoline, has the _best_ cakes. I go there on the third Sunday of every month as a sort of 'appreciation day' for myself and eat as much cake as I want! Some of my favorites are their baked cheesecake, tarte au fromage, and millie-feuille! Although, their cheese puffs are _really good_ too and…"

Minoru wouldn't mind staying here forever, if this was something she would be greeted with everyday. The idea that it could be, that it was a possibility, made something like hope bloom within her heart.

For the first time since she woke up, Minoru smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omurice typically consists of chicken fried rice wrapped in a thin sheet of fried egg, like an omelet, and topped with ketchup.
> 
> Featherweight is ranked number 8 towards the bottom of the list in terms of heaviness in the weight classes (there are 14 total in the amateur boxing division). Welterweight is ranked number 5, with three classes and six kg separating the two of them.


	31. Act II, Scene VIII: Unfair

Hana wasn't expecting this when she went over to her best friend's place to visit, that the purple haired girl actually existed and that said girl wasn't actually a weird little creep mooching off Kyoko's gullible kindness. Her eyebrow twitched. This was just unreasonable.

How on earth was she supposed to deal with _two Kyokos_?!

Albeit, while Minoru — _despite not being a physical clone of the younger Sasagawa sibling_ — had that innocent, must-be-protected-at-all-costs vibe going for her in spades, She also had a sort of clinically depressed twist to it. Those mournful eyes should be illegal.

Hana couldn't quite bring herself to be as prickly with the wane-looking girl as she would have been with the rest of the population. Minoru looked as if one unkind word would either make her burst into tears or send her spiraling into a cycle of intense self-loathing. Or both. Hana wasn't quite sure what type of reaction the darker girl would have.

_(although, she suspected it that it might have been the former, Minoru seemed like the honest and earnest kind who would take such things to heart and cry freely like a little kid; something about the her reminded Hana of a child; was Minoru still in Primary school; she was certainly tiny enough, dwarfed by even the petite Kyoko… 150 centimeters? 145 centimeters? 140 centimeters?! Hana was never good at guessing heights, and the more she looked at the other girl, the smaller and more harmless Minoru seemed)_

So, the noirette ended up surprising her best friend by being perfectly polite to Minoru, because despite how much the slighter girl looked like a kid, she didn't act like one, which in turn didn't give Hana both hives and an intense dislike. Actually, between both herself and Kyoko, Minoru didn't talk much at all, was like an agreeable and sleepy kitten, watching the both of them and content to just become part of the furniture entirely undisturbed, purring away contently if one could equate the tiny smile she was wearing to a purr.

As if the universe needed to make more of a point, when offered something to drink, Minoru asked for milk. _Milk_. Hana would bet money that Minoru preferred strawberry milk, especially since she seemed vaguely disappointed in the taste, as if expecting something more. She still drank it all, taking tiny sips at a time, while Hana savored a carton of black coffee that was solely stocked in the fridge for her and Kyoko enjoyed a can of peach soda.

Still, she had to know, even if she was playing nice and her quarry didn't exactly present a threat, just who was getting so chummy with the-human-embodiment-of-sunshine and if they were worthy enough of sticking around.

_(Hana had the sneaking suspicion that Minoru was about to become a permanent fixture in her life with Kyoko and that she was about to gain another vulnerable friend to shield from the savage and primate-like masses)_

She liked the color brown, her favorite drink was milk (surprise, surprise), favorite food was anything with noodles in it, and favorite dessert was ice cream.

She was sixteen years old (although it took her a moment to answer and she looked just as surprised as Hana and Kyoko were at the fact that she was older than the two of them).

She wasn't in school currently (probably homeschooled, she looked as if she had been ill her whole life, if she was that short and thin).

All of her favorite books and authors had foreign titles and English names (so she probably came from either a well-to-do family or had a parent who was foreign or possibly both; there was act least some money involved, given the clothes Minoru was wearing, kimonos like that did not come cheap!).

But when Hana turned the conversation to last names and family… Something within Minoru seemed to shut down, leaving her eerily silent and so much more fragile now than she did earlier. Kyoko gently asked if she was staying with a friend or guardian and managed to coax out the name, 'Hicchan'.

"Tell me about him. I already told you so much about, Nii-san, it's probably like you've known him your whole life! It would only be fair if I gave you chance to talk about someone you know too."

"He… He's grumpy, all the time," Minoru offered hesitantly before continuing cautiously after being given an encouraging nod, "He's also really quiet and… um…" She seemed at a loss for words before frowning and settling with, "Rules are very important to his life. He lives in an old and fancy house with his father and lots of people, workers. But I don't see them very often. He looks a bit like a prince, a very grumpy one, with frowning grey-eyes and really neat black hair. Sometimes he has a friend visit, but their hair is…" Minoru makes a gesture with her hands like there is a particularly fat and long horn on her forehead and Hana starts to get the sinking suspicion that she knew exactly who the tiny girl in front of her was staying with.

"His surname wouldn't happen to be… _Hibari_ would it?" A single bead of sweat dribbles down the back of her neck when Minoru nods. Surely, _surely_ , she wouldn't have… "And he knows where you are right now, _right_?" A cold heavy stone takes residence in her stomach at the negative and slightly ashamed answer she receives. The stone freezes and develops spikes when Hana looks out the window to see that the sun is setting and that it's getting dark out. " _ **Please**_ tell me you know his phone number," the noirette managed to choke out.

The answer she was given almost made her give up all hope of living to see another day.


End file.
